eBooks, Yes or No?

[Foolish Catalyst]

I've been thinking on this a lot lately, and decided that I really don't like the idea of electronic books.

My brother has a couple on his iPod and I dunno, I just think it takes all the love out of genuine, printed, paper and card novels.

Anyone else have an opinion on this?  

[GirlPuck]

I haven't thought about this a whole lot, but it has crossed my mind before. I know exactly what you mean. I love my computer, and the interent is great, but you just can't duplicate the feeling you get when you're curled up with a book you can't put down, waiting to get to the next page to see what happens next.

With environment conservation in mind, I think it is an excellant idea, it certainly saves a lot of paper, but in other regards, I feel that it simply isn't worth it. Besides which, it's hard to look at and read a large amount of text on a screen.  

[OliviaFalconer]

I'm too fast a reader to be happy with a little bitty screen. As it is, I give myself headaches trying to scroll through text on computers screens fast enough to keep up with my reading speed. Besides, what do I do if the power fails? Though GirlPuck is right about saving paper, I also think paper is a better medium for anybody to access, since you don't need a paticular piece of hardware to use a printed book.  

[just Atra]

I can barely stand reading manga online, but I don't want to read books that way.

There's something about sinking under the covers and feeling the paper beneath your fingers that makes it comfortable.

Besides, actual books are portable.
(=

 

[Foolish Catalyst]

Besides, actual books are portable.


eBook Readers are portable too...
Doesn't mean I'd want one though!

I love the feel of the pages, and the smell.
I realise the latter is a little strange...
=]

Is there anyone who can see any advantage to eBooks, other than the aforementioned environmental aspect?  

[Rei Uchikino]

It's true that eBooks are a good way to save paper. Besides that, I don't really see any advantages.

I prefer actual books as opposed to eBooks. There's nothing quite like the relaxing feeling of flipping through the pages of a book. Also I love that new book smell.  

[DevonyEvony]

Advantages? While there is an environmental aspect to it, you could also be saving space by having files saved in one area rather than having shelves of books set up. You could also save shipping costs by having the internet transport data after paying a simple fee to have access to it.

Um...

There's also the fact that an eBook doesn't suffer wear and tear, and will only have to be replaced if the file itself is lost or damaged, which is less likely.

Those are the only advantages I can think of, but it still remains that I, like everyone else so far, prefer the feeling of an actual book in my hands rather than a computer device.

 

[Herself Online]

I love holding a book in my hands, being able to take it anywhere and be able to smell it! I love smelling books^_^  

[OliviaFalconer]

The storage space needed by ebooks does seem like a good advantage--until the storage device crashes.  

[Gek -LaLeLu-]

I think eBooks take the thrill out of it. I'm somewhat of a book collector and I love walking out the bookstore with a full bag (even though I know I could've used that money on something more economically feasible). With eBooks, I don't get that. No awesome cover designs, no worry about maintaining the impeccable state of the bookjacket, no filling up and rearranging my bookshelves....No curling up in bed at night with an actual bound-paper volume. And also, I like to read outside. It's very hard to see what's on the iPod screen in direct sunlight.

Besides, I'd get a headache from looking at tiny print on such a small screen. gonk (Although, I'm assuming eBooks are convertible to more than just an iPod? I could find a bigger screen, but my eyes would still get tired.) I was never into the audio books either. You just can't beat the charm of a good, old-fashioned book!  

[bunnyrulerofthemoon]

While eBooks might be more environmentally friendly/space saving, I like having an actual book to read. You can flip through books, and they smell great, and the covers usually are really nice to look at. It also is cool to see a large shelf (or several) covered in books.  

[LadyMarcy]

I'm not sure if eBooks are actually environmental. Well, yeah, paper, but if you store a book on a computer device, then doesn't that device need energy? Like, energy every single time you want to read it? And what if you take a reeeally long time when you read? You have that device on longer because you are reading a book. Saps more energy. Bigger bill and the such.

With a book made of actual paper, it's made once with energy and then you can read it again without charging anything. The only thing you most certainly need is light and maybe reading glasses.  

[DevonyEvony]

But what if the energy source is powered by the wind or from solar panels? xD
Ah, we could drag this on forever.  

[Ate Monay]

No way! eBooks can't possibly replace real books... And besides.. reading it on a screen will just make your eyes hurt... and you miss the joy of having a book that is all yours and yours to keep... you can pass it on to later generations! eBooks - bad idea!  

[weirwood]

I recently got an Amazon Kindle, and it's been great so far. As much as I love real books, it's nice to be able to get all public domain books (and some others that happen to be out there) for free and to be able to read them at my leisure (I don't have to worry about having a long, dense book like War and Peace checked out from the library for too long). Also, the electronic ink the device uses doesn't hurt my eyes at all. I thought it was real paper when I got it. As far as convenience is concerned, the Kindle's pretty legit.